Latest Stories

Smart Stops on the Web

This
site is devoted to an electronic encyclopedia that details
the history of the Internet from its origin as a Defense
Department project in 1969 and discusses the mechanics
behind the Web. Also included are many articles on Internet
engineering, as well as a section linking to “requests for
comments” (RFCs).

If you’ve ever wondered how PCs got their start,
the Computer Museum site has a timeline tracing their
history from 1945 to 1990. Each year’s entry contains
illustrated descriptions of important hardware and software
innovations, as well as milestones in commercial computer
applications and artificial intelligence.

Absolute Freebies lives up to its name by offering
free downloads of complete Windows-based software
packages—not just demos or review copies, as well as
screensavers and wallpaper to enliven your desktop. Another
section of this site lets you order free CD-ROMs from a
continuously updated list. The company requires only that
users pay the shipping charges.

If human beings are descended from apes, then
today’s computers are descended from ancient abacuses and
(less ancient, but nevertheless dated) calculators. This
site is devoted to the history and hobby of collecting
calculators. It offers some historic advertisements for
abacuses and calculators, which were the computers of their
time.

This site not only links to free software programs
for home, office and educational purposes, but it also has a
summary of what each linked site offers and a review of the
software’s usefulness. It includes an archive section in
case you missed something previously posted.

This site, like the two above, has links to free
downloads as well as descriptions of the other sites’
additional offerings. It includes the usual games and
business and home-use software, but unlike the others, also
provides free downloads for fonts, e-mail, catalogs, coupons
and graphics for designers.

Stockgroup.com’s site provides information about
earnings, investments and trades, as well as the latest
computer-related and telecommunications news. Registration
is free for a trial membership and allows you to access more
feature articles by the company’s dedicated staff writers.

BusinessJeeves.com bills itself as “Your Online
Business Secretary.” Although the site can’t screen your
phone calls or get your coffee, it can locate contact
information and links to sites on a variety of business
topics, including banking services, bond brokers and
markets, currency markets, general financial services and
international trade.

This
site, from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the
Treadway Commission (COSO), includes its landmark report,
Internal Control—Integrated Framework, and the
executive summary from Fraudulent Financial Reporting:
1987–1997, which provides an analysis of fraud cases
under investigation by the SEC during this 10-year time
period.

Edward P. Smith, a Greenfield, Massachusetts attorney,
created a site with extensive links to other sites on
computer and telecommunications law, as well as to legal
services and periodicals. Related U.S. Supreme Court and
Federal Appeals Court decisions can also be found here.

This Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) site
is aimed at the currency collector. Among its various
sections is one with facts and trivia about U.S. (as well as
Confederate) currency. Another allows users to purchase
uncut sheets of various denominations and shredded currency.
Yet another section offers links to related sites, such as
the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury.

Microsoft’s WindowsMedia radio station guide
broadcasts radio transmissions, in real-time, from literally
everywhere in the world. You can choose any station, whether
it’s local, national or even international. If the site
doesn’t have your favorite station, it will find what you’re
looking for.

The results of the 2016 presidential election are likely to have a big impact on federal tax policy in the coming years. Eddie Adkins, CPA, a partner in the Washington National Tax Office at Grant Thornton, discusses what parts of the ACA might survive the repeal of most of the law.